Jeff and Debbie Karam got in their Chevy Silverado, headed west and kept going. The Rocky Mountains, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas and more.

It didnt rain at all, Karam said. We saw everything. It was an incredible time. It was really cool.

In the back of my mind, I started my bucket list.

At the end of that trip, Karam formulated a plan to make the 2022-23 Bethlehem Catholic wrestling season one in which he gave everything he could.

A sour-tasting end to the previous season pushed the ultra-competitive Karam to do that.Bethlehem Catholic this season won every dual meet, won every postseason team title.

And now the 55-year-old Karam is walkingaway after three decades of coaching a sport hes given most of his life to.

When we got done with individual states, Karam said, I was really tired. I thought about things the last couple weeks. I got to the point where I feel I know what the program needs, and I dont feel I can give that kind of commitment right now.

Karam won 364 times in his coaching career at Delaware Valley (N.J.), Freedom and Bethlehem Catholic. He won an absurd 88.9% of his matches while in charge of the Golden Hawks.

But it was never about all those victories, the PIAA-record nine state team titles, the 22 individual state champions or all the other accolades for Karam.

I dont know if I was a great coach, he said. But I wanted the kids to know that Coach Karam cared about them.

I had a lot of success, a lot of medals and trophies. But what meant most was the relationships with the kids. I hope my impact on them was positive. Thats why you coach, to build character and help them grow into great men one day.

Karam stepped away for the 2018-19 season to see his sons compete in college but returned a year later and the Golden Hawks returned to dominance. They didnt lose a match the last two seasons and won consecutive 3A state team titles.

Karam did not eliminate the chance for a return to coaching, but right now he is working on his bucket list.

He and his wife met the week after his last season of college competition. He had a black eye and cauliflower ear. She knew what she was in for.

Debbie Karam lived the sport every day since their twin sons, Cole and Luke, started in the sport at age 4. She sat alone in the top row of the Giant Center in March 2016 to watch Luke win the last of his three state titles.

Shell sit next to her husband again this summer, first on a plane to Seattle, then on a cruise to Alaska.

They are making plans to visit Cole, who earned his graduate degree in architecture and took a job with a firm in Miami.

Karam is a longtime Dolphins fan, so plans are in the works to see them at home for the first time during their visit.

Im not old, Karam said, but Im older. There are a lot of things I want to do. Were going to take a lot of trips, do as much as we can until the money runs out.

You never know whats on the horizon. Well figure it out as we go.

Karams ride at Bethlehem Catholic was with his best friend, Randy Cruz, riding shotgun. Cruzs job as manager of learning design at Penske kept him out of the practice room more in recent years, which has left more on Karams plate. That wore on Karam.

So, too, did the way the 2021-22 season ended with an individual state tournament that was not up to the programs standards.

Even though we were team state champions, he said. I felt there were cracks in the foundation.

Karam did contemplate retirement after the 2021-22 season. He became more committed to fixing the flaws.

He couldnt have about been happier about what transpired in his final year.

The kids around me were a privilege to coach in the room, Karam added, and the parents, too. It was a fabulous season.

But you cant sugar coat it. Its a 365-day-a-year job. If youre not fully committed, the kids know. I have to be honest with them.

Karam told Cruz as soon as he made up his mind to step down. The two took the program to unseen heights.

They wore different titles, but Karam didnt see a distinction between him and his best friend.

There is no way our program is where it is without Randy Cruz, he said. He is, hands down, the best coach Ive ever seen in a wrestling room.

Cruz has zero desire to be a head coach, so where does that leave Bethlehem Catholics program? There is no clear-cut choice on a replacement. But the cupboard is far from bare. Nine starters, including three state champions, return.

Theteam coming back is ridiculous, Cruz said. You dont leave that. But I honor and understand his decision. Its the right decision. Its time.

Filling the shoes of Karam and Cruz will be an enormous challenge.

But other national-level programs in the Lehigh Valley survived coaching changes of this magnitude (Easton and Nazareth among them).

Karam left a strong foundation in place. He takes countless relationships with those he coached, most of whom reached out within hours of his decision going public. Many took to social media to express their admiration for him.

Cruz echoed those sentiments.

Without Jeff, we probably might not end up at Bethlehem Catholic, Cruz said of himself and his two sons. Who knows where we might have ended up if not for Jeff taking that position and having a vision of creating something great.

I give credit him for having that foresight, taking us in and starting something that became a 15-year journey of great wrestling.

Cruz and Karam always have spent time together outside of wrestling. Dinners with the wives. Vacations with the families. That will continue to be a priority.

Karam knows that the chapter of his life as a health and physical education teacher at Freedom is a year or two away from ending.

But hes looking forward to the new experiences and will take the three traits that molded his career in education and coaching: He was committed, competitive and compassionate from the time he was an assistant to his brother, Jody, at Delaware Valley until the last match last month in Hershey.

I loved every minute of it, he said. I have been blessed at both ends and am very thankful.

Karam has only seen one bald eagle outside of a zoo. It happened near a McDonalds on Route 31 in Flemington, New Jersey. He was traveling for wrestling.

With that life path closed for now, he will experience more than bald eagles this summer on his journey through Alaska.

And, he cant wait to fill that part of lifes bucket.

Morning Call reporter Tom Housenick can be reached at 610-820-6651 or atthousenick@mcall.com

The 22 PIAA of Bethlehem Catholics champions under Jeff Karam:

Luke Karam (3)

Mikey Labriola (2)

Ryan Anderson (2)

Nate Desmond (2)

Darian Cruz (2)

Randy Cruz

Keanu Dillard

Kollin Rath

Elliot Riddick

Kenny Herrmann

Cole Handlovic

Zeke Moisey

Jake Reigel

Andrew Dunn

Joey Gould

Tyler Kasak

Bethlehem Catholic has won a PIAA-record nine state team titles under Jeff Karam:

2011-14

2016

2018-19

2022-23

Excerpt from:
Why Jeff Karam left Bethlehem Catholic wrestling: Grand Canyon ... - The Morning Call